It was recently announced that the committee sitting under the
presidency of Minister Lely, at the Hague, had determined to reclaim
the Zuider Sea, and that for this purpose a dam is to be constructed
from the peninsula of North Holland to the opposite coast of
Friesland.
This announcement brings back to recollection the proud old Dutch
proverb: "God created the sea, the Hollander the coast."
The proposal is to construct a dam from Ewyk, on the northeastern
point of North Holland, to the island of Wieringen, and then from the
eastern point of this island another dam, 18½ miles long, to the coast
of Friesland, by the shortest route.
The Hollanders, in their great reclamation works, the Sea of Harlem,
for instance, prepare the entire foundation first and then gradually
raise the dam on it. The watercourse is not narrowed during the
progress of the work, as the dam is raised uniformly throughout the
whole length; the current therefore passes slowly over it, and the dam
is not subject to damage from flood waters. These deposit enormous
quantities of sand and mud within the intercepted area, and after a
few years the land shows above the surface of the water; the land
while still in course of formation is locally known as "Heller," and
the reclaimed land as "Polder."
As soon as the land has attained the required height, the dam is built
sufficiently high, and also strong enough, to answer the purposes of a
dike and to withstand the force of the largest tidal waves.
In constructing these dams, enormous rafts are made on the shore and
then floated to the works, where they are weighted by stones and sunk
in the required position. Within a few weeks large quantities of silt
and mud accumulate, and the whole forms an exceedingly tough and
strong elevation under the water; the currents grow weaker, and
deposits are lodged also outside the dam, the base of which is of
course of great width.
The Zuider Sea is one of the strongest evidences we have of the power
of the sea over the land. Its formation commenced as far back as the
twelfth century, prior to which it was only an inland lake. On
December 14, 1287, during a terrific storm, the sea broke through the
dividing shore line and widened the lake into a wide bay (Southern
Sea, Dutch, Zuider Sea) of the North Sea; 80,000 persons lost their
lives on that occasion. The same storm also did enormous damages in
other localities.
This was, however, not the first occasion on which the sea had made
inroads into the coast lands. Before the works of destruction
commenced a narrow isthmus connected Great Britain with the Continent.
The North Sea was then--comparatively speaking--calm; vast chains of
sandy downs ran parallel to the coast, and stretched from this isthmus
to the coast of Jutland; they were of considerable height, those on
the west coast of Schleswig attaining an altitude of 200 feet. Behind
these downs enormous swamps are formed, in which the rivers, with few
exceptions, disappeared; but the deposits they brought down formed
those rich agricultural lands now known locally as "Marschland."
The destruction of the shores commenced from the date that the narrow
isthmus above referred to was carried away by the tidal waves which
broke the English Channel during westerly gales. Traces, found far
inland, show that this catastrophe occurred when the locality was
inhabited, in fact a legend, in circulation to this day, relates that
an English queen, to revenge herself on a Danish king, had the dam
which connected England with France pierced, and so destroyed Denmark.
When the Romans appeared on the scene the work of destruction was in
progress, the chain of downs had been broken, and its place taken by
many islands, far larger and more numerous than at present.
The first historical accounts of the storm tidal waves is referred to
by Strabo as having occurred in 113 B.C., this, he relates, drove the
Cimbers and Teutons from their homes and was the cause of their
threatening Rome. Many other floods occurred which are known as
"Manntranke" (man drowning). In the flood of 1216, for instance,
10,000 persons lost their lives, and three years later the
"Marcellus" flood caused similar destruction. In 1300 the second
"Marcellus" flood broke 12 feet over the highest dikes and Schleswig
alone lost 7,600 persons in the waves.
Heligoland was at that time a large island, 46 miles long and 24 miles
wide, it contained a monastery, many churches, large villages,
extensive cultivations and forests; the island was all but destroyed
by this inundation. Before that disastrous occurrence the island could
be seen from the shores of Friesland, which in the days of Charles the
Great was twice as large as now. The Friesland of to-day is only the
southern and poorest remnant of the magnificent lands which were
completely destroyed on October 11, 1684; 20 parishes and 150,000
persons disappeared beneath the waves, which broke through the dikes
simultaneously in twenty-four places.
To relate all inundations would lead too far, but the most serious may
be mentioned as showing the struggles in which the inhabitants of the
North Sea coast are engaged. That of 1421, which swallowed 21 parishes
and 100,000 persons; then the most terrible of which there is any
record, and which is known as the "All Saints' Day" flood of 1570; the
sea raged along the whole of the coast from Holland to Jutland for
forty-eight hours, carried away all the dikes and caused the loss of
400,000 lives; the whole country lay waste for years, for the want of
population to rebuild the dikes.
The Christmas flood of 1717 also visited the whole coast and 15,000
lives were lost.
During the present century the destruction by the sea has been
minimized, as the dikes are now built strong and high enough to
withstand the heaviest seas. The various islands along the coast act
as breakwaters and protect, to a great extent, the coast line; the
various governments are endeavoring to strengthen the islands by
vegetation, but it appears to be only a question of time when they
will disappear altogether.
Although the sea has, during the past 1,000 years, robbed the Dutch of
great tracts of land, yet they have, by enduring perseverance,
recovered a great deal, and there appears no doubt that they will
succeed to form the Zuider Sea into rich agricultural lands, just as
they have already dried up the Harlem Sea and converted it into waving
cornfields.
Ground is also gained yearly in other directions, by continually
extending the dikes; the richest lands on the coasts of Holland and
Germany have thus been reclaimed from the ocean, and they are
protected by means which secure the coasts against future
encroachment.
* * * * *
[Continued from SUPPLEMENT, No. 1080, page 17263.]